Following a deepening of Greece’s economic unrest, the pound continues to surge, resulting in more British families booking holidays in the continent. As a result, holidaymakers are set to save 15% – or £112.70 per week – on their family holidays this year due to the strong pound.
Currently, according to The Euro Exchange Rate News, the exchange rate is 1.41 Euros to the Pound and trending in favour of sterling. What’s more, predictions of the exchange rate increasing to 1.60 are on the rise. This could lead to potential savings of 33%, or £191.85 per week. Due to the financial situation in Greece worsening, the pound has returned to its 6 year high and the British are taking advantage of it.
Holiday Hypermarket has carried out research into consumer behaviour and whether the recent upturn has affected British travellers’ choice to travel to Europe in 2015 in comparison to 2014. The results that came back show an immense correlation – travel to Europe is soaring, and the total number of bookings to Greece and its numerous islands have increased by 71.7% since 2013, but the rest of Europe is taking on larger amounts of British tourists than before, too.
On the travel surges to Greece, Ian Crawford, Holiday Hypermarket representative, said, “We can see that Greece generates a high number of repeat bookings, suggesting that it ticks a lot of boxes as far as families are concerned. There is a lot on offer to suit all ages which is a big factor in deciding on where to go on holiday.”
With the rapidly approaching summer holidays, tourism in Greece is looking positive, with such a dramatic increase in British holiday-goers. “This is encouraging news for Greece ahead of the busy summer months and is testament to the friendliness of the nation and all that it offers,” Ian Crawford continues.
An analysis of bookings in May prove that travellers departing from Bristol have shown a whopping 3900% increase in trips to Zante, Greece, a 1900% increase to The Algarve, Portugal, an 800% surge to The Costa Del Sol, Spain and a further 550% increase to Dalaman, Turkey.
This phenomenal surge in Bristol travellers is mirrored throughout all major UK cities. Travellers from Manchester have shown a 106% increase in bookings to Spain; Glasgow has shown a 900% increase to Costa De Sol, Spain, while Newcastle has shown a massive 9900% increase to Menorca, Balearic Islands and a 400% increase to Larnaca, Cyprus.
After seeing these travel surges, the budget travel retailer looked deeper, researching the savings that an average family could make in one day while away on holiday.
In just one evening, £16.10 could be saved by each person, a 15% mark down from the original costs. This would result in a massive saving of £112.70 per person over a 7 night holiday. One couple would be saving over £200 a week, thanks to the low conversion rate, and a family of five could afford an extra night away with these savings. See table for details.
Ian Crawford, Marketing Manager of Holiday Hypermarket remarked upon this swell of European travel: “We have noticed a remarkable growth in European travel this year, and it seems the exchange rate is having a significant effect on travellers’ choice of destination. The statistics that we found are really interesting, proving that there are huge savings to be taken advantage of.”
The benefits for Brits are incredible and the British public are obviously making the most of the decreasing Euro. Europe is the place to be in 2015 and us Brits are flocking!
Kaynak : 